Jan 16, 2013

exterior color choices

my husband was asking me to select the color scheme for our new house before we even had the footings in. i struggled for weeks trying to figure out what i wanted...and sometimes, figuring out what you WANT is easier if you know what you DON'T WANT.

i know i don't want a tan or taupe house.

no offense, but the state of utah will be just fine with one less tan house! i tend to like homes with a more classic, east coast look versus homes that are more rustic and western. i guess that is because i am from the east, and that is what i am used to!

at first, i toyed around with the idea of a light grey house:

while i love this look, i kinda felt that wasn't me....that maybe i was responding more to the recent trend of grey houses i have seen all over the internet lately? while they are beautiful, i felt i wanted something a little more simple.

i also entertained the idea of a dark, rich grey or brown house:

and then my husband reminded me that dark colors will absorb heat, and since our house in on the side of the mountain, with very few trees around it, it would be way more expensive to cool in the summer than a lighter house.

slowly, i started to realize that i wanted my new house to be white...at first, i wanted something different....and looked into the possibilty of a white house with dark windows:

while i love this look, i felt like it might be a little more appropriate for a coastal area, or a historic neighborhood...and besides, i just couldn't shake images like this out of my head:

classic. timeless. simple. white.

so that's what i am going with!

and now....to find the PERFECT white!

anyone have any colors that they have used for the exterior of a house that they recommend?
i will be testing colors in the next week or two!

14 comments:

We used SW Moderate White for the outside of our house, but it is a Spanish Mission/Santa Barbara Style House in Arizona. It looks great in the light here on our stucco. I have no idea how it would look on a more traditional house in more northern light.

It is crisp and clean warm white without being too blaringly white like a Decorator's White.

I am going to be painting my house white too. Clean and simple, love it! Since the undertone of concrete and most stone work is green I vote for a white that compliments that. Although from the picture you posted it is hard to tell if the actual stone you are using has a pinkie beige undertone or not. Do you have a picture of the lot of stone you got?

Do you have pictures of the roof material you are using too? I noticed from the elevation you have quite a bit of roof showing, that that needs to be taken into account as well.

What about the door and shutter colors?

All that being said here are some suggestions of whites. Chantilly Lace OC-65 is the best basic white to use as a comparison to "see" the blue, yellow,pink,purple, orange,green, or gray undertone of another white

Snowfall white OC-118Cloud white 967andSimply white OC-117 are all good off whites to look at.

Mascarpone AF-20 is the color of much of Ikea's white furniture

White dove OC-27 is a yellow undertone as well

My last tip is don't mix pink undertones with yellow ones it makes the item with the pink undertone look dirty!

i dont have pics of the stone yet....we got blasted with snow last week, and it kinda shut things down for a few days. i do know the shingles we will be using....they just got installed right before the snow. thank goodness i have a picture that i took right before we got 30+ inches of snow on the roof!

I'm also in the process of building (about to go out for bid. We're doing a classic Southern farmhouse, also in white. For some great suggestions, check out Southern Living's collection of Southern architect's favorite exterior colors. We're probably going to use the Casual Cream selection from Jim Strickland. http://www.southernliving.com/home-garden/decorating/exterior-paint-colors-00417000077406/page16.html

Yes on NO MORE TAN, if I have to see one more half stone half stucco home in Utah with a giant four car garage in front with a tiny front door hidden somewhere I will cry! Love all the pictures! We did our house a green with yellow door. I love it! Can't wait to see what you pick!

I used Benjamin Moore China White on my parents' house. I know it's kind of boring and doesn't have a dazzling name like some of these other colors, but it was the perfect warm white for a suburban ranch style home.